Twenty-two arrested in Turkish match-fix probe

07 July 2011 05:30

Twenty-two people, including senior officials of top side Fenerbahce, have been arrested over the last two days as part of an ongoing probe into Turkish league match-fixing last season, media reports said.

Fifteen people were sent to jail early Thursday, including the vice-president of the club, Sekip Mosturoglu, financial chief Tamer Yelkovan and other senior officials Ilhan Eksioglu and Cemil Turan, Anatolia news agency reported.

The president of Fenerbahce, Aziz Yildirim was brought to police Thursday to testify, Anatolia said. Yildirim was hospitalized with heart-related complaints, following his detention by police on Sunday.

"We won all our games by our own great efforts," Alex De Souza, the team captain of Fenerbahce said in a press meeting Thursday, disclosing his support for his team, Anatolia reported.

The head of Sivasspor club, Mecnun Odyakmaz, goalkeeper Korcan Celikay, senior official Ahmet Celebi and coach of Eskisehirspor Bulent Uygun were also among the arrests.

Sivasspor announced Thursday that it had terminated Celikay's contract with the team, Anatolia said.

Some 61 people were detained by police on Sunday under the investigation. Seven of them had been sent to jail Wednesday pending trial.

Two Fenerbahce players - Nigerian striker Emmanuel Emenike and forward Sezer Ozturk - had been released by prosecutors with no charges.

Fenerbahce clinched the league title on the final day last season by defeating Sivasspor 4-3 in Trabzonspor.

The match-fixing investigation led to many arrests last year but this was the first time such high-level officials have been taken into custody.